Chapter 8
Avery’s blood seemed to freeze instantly.
The website’s homepage displayed her intimate photos, starting at one penny.
These photos-only Reed had them.
How could he do this?!
Avery’s entire body trembled uncontrollably.
“These are my treasures, for my eyes only.”
“Baby, no bikinis allowed. I go crazy if another man even looks at you.”
That time at the beach when a man had glanced at her a little too long, Reed had dragged her to their room and “punished” her for seven days straight.
She’d begged for mercy, promising never to wear a bikini again, and only then had he been satisfied.
Reed’s possessive words now felt like poison-tipped daggers piercing her heart.
Below the website, vile comments spread like wildfire.
Those filthy words felt like slimy hands, dragging her back to that abandoned building’s rooftop-torn clothes, men’s leering laughter, bone-deep despair…
The memories came back with nauseating clarity.
The events of the past few days gradually returned to her: the detention center, Sugar’s death, the abandoned building…
Her expression slowly went numb, and after a long while, she managed a bitter smile.
“So I didn’t die after all.”
Early the next morning, Avery ignored the doctor’s advice, pulled out the IV from her arm, and left the hospital.
She was leaving in one day anyway. Since she hadn’t died, there were still things she needed to do.
She returned home and gathered all the items she hadn’t had time to clear out before-Reed’s love letters, his gifts to her, their photos together, their wedding photos…
Everything that had witnessed their love was loaded into a large truck.
She had it all dumped into the sea.
Now, between her and Reed, only she herself remained.
The next day, Avery rose early and lit a fire in a metal basin.
She threw in her favorite dresses, her most beloved books, one by one.
She was leaving tomorrow, so she might as well send her belongings ahead to the other side.
When the fire died down, all that remained was a small bag containing her documents and Sugar’s ashes. Nothing else belonging to her was left.
Just then, the door was violently pushed open.
Chapter 8
Reed barged in with Victoria.
Avery glanced up at them indifferently:
“Isn’t your wedding tomorrow? What are you doing here? If you want this house for the wedding, I’ll leave right now.” Her coldness was like a needle, sharply stabbing Reed, inexplicably infuriating him.
“Hand over Victoria’s things,” Reed demanded coldly. “We need them for our wedding tomorrow!”
Victoria dramatically fell to her knees before Avery, crying like a wounded flower.
“Avery, I know you hate me, but Reed loves me now. I won’t hold all your past actions against me. Please, considering I don’t have much time left to live, give it back to me. It’s the only memento I have from my father…”
Avery suddenly let out a derisive laugh. Reed faking amnesia, Victoria faking illness-they really were a perfect match.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never seen your things.”
Victoria sobbed, banging her head on the floor. “The things you had your kidnappers take from me that day. Please, give them back…”
Reed quickly helped Victoria up, glaring coldly at Avery.
“She doesn’t deserve your begging.”
He grabbed Avery’s only bag from the sofa and dumped all its contents onto the floor.
“No!”
Avery’s cry caught in her throat.
The porcelain bottle containing Sugar’s ashes fell to the floor, shattering.
A small pile of ashes scattered among the broken pieces.
She had promised Sugar she would take him with her.
Gone.
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Everything was gone.
She trembled as she knelt down, trying to gather the ashes, even if just a tiny bit.
But Victoria suddenly let out a piercing scream, finding a broken gemstone necklace among the spilled items.
She viciously stepped on Sugar’s ashes, grinding them under her foot before lunging at Avery like a madwoman, scratching and hitting her.
Avery didn’t resist Victoria’s assault.
Her gaze remained fixed on the ashes she could never reclaim.
She who thought she had no more tears left to cry found them falling once again.
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